Leaked all new HTC One box hints at launch-day US availability

By this point we don’t have a ton of outstanding questions about the all new HTC One the company plans to introduce at next Tuesday’s launch event, but one that’s managed to hang around concerns just when the handset will be available for sale. We’ve heard from one UK retailer that it expects to have the phone in its stores just minutes after HTC’s event, but is this going to be the case everywhere? Would US carriers similarly scramble to get the new One into users’ hands, or would they take their sweet time? While we still don’t have any official answers about US availability, we do have a little new evidence in favor of that launch-day-sales theory, and just like a number of yesterday’s leaks, this one comes to us from a Verizon store.

That Lite-Brite-looking case is back, but this time with a message for us: “get ready to hit refresh, 3.25 at 1pm ET.” Well, March 25 is next Tuesday, when the new One launches, but if you’ll remember from HTC’s save-the-date, that event kicks-off at 11am. It doesn’t take too much reading between the lines to see this as an invitation to swing by a Verizon store to pick up the newly refreshed One for yourself – or maybe to jump on over to Verizon’s website immediately following HTC’s announcement, presumably to place your order.

In all fairness, maybe we’re just talking about same-day pre-orders, or something a little less exciting that actual availability of the new One – if we’re looking at today’s find by itself, that might well be a likelihood – but in the context of that news from the UK, we’re leaning in favor of an honest-to-god start to sales.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bitsRead more about Stephen Schenck!